


Panda-chan

by Karla_Writes



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-17
Updated: 2015-01-17
Packaged: 2018-03-07 21:33:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3183932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karla_Writes/pseuds/Karla_Writes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto was sure that Sousuke didn’t like him. The man had been trying to get him to quit since the morning Makoto arrived all those days ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Panda-chan

**Author's Note:**

> Short and pointless, like most everything I write. I had most of this written a while back, but it just needed an ending. 
> 
> Cross-posted to my tumblr: [orcaliciousity](http://orcaliciousity.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Available in Vietnamese [here](https://www.facebook.com/swimcouples/posts/1014725401889061) thanks to Masato Inoue

Makoto’s eyes bulged when he saw the large, gaudy costume Sousuke pulled out of one of the employee closets. It was black, white, and frilly.

“That’s…” Makoto, too distracted by the costume, could not say more than that. Yamazaki Sousuke, the person who was in charge of training him, gave a lazy grin.

“Panda-chan.” The man provided, voice light but teasing. Makoto was sure that Sousuke didn’t like him. The man had been trying to get him to quit since the morning Makoto arrived all those days ago. He would tell Makoto to prepare orders faster than the veteran baristas, to serve and take orders better than the quick and efficient servers, and even to clean every inch of the café when they already had a very capable janitor. Makoto could not figure out what he had done to the other man to deserve such treatment.

And now there was this.

“We use this costume for promotional purposes,” Sousuke said, gaining Makoto’s attention. “Today has been slow, so we’ll go out and try to bring customers back here.” After he was done explaining, Sousuke handed the heavy costume over to the nervous-looking brunette.

“O-oh, I see.” Makoto mumbled, staring down at the costume. The pale pink bow pinned to its right ear and lacy pink apron stood out amidst the black and white fur. It had two large, sparkly blue eyes, a tiny nose, and a wide, smiling mouth. With narrow, focused eyes still on him, Makoto hastily put the panda costume on.

“Your apron.” Sousuke’s words caused him to stop. He saw the other man pointing at his waist. Makoto nodded wordlessly, fingers fumbling over the intricate knot on his back that kept the white apron firmly on his waist. Heat rushed to his face when he couldn’t undo the knot. Hearing a soft clicking of tongue and footsteps coming his way, Makoto froze. His fingers were pushed away and replaced by the long, precise fingers of Sousuke. The slightly taller man moved away from him after a brief moment, taking his apron with him.

“Thank you.” Makoto managed to breathe out as he finished putting on the costume.

…

Makoto ignored the bead of sweat that ran down the bridge of his nose in favor of chasing after Sousuke. His steps feeling heavier with the weight of the costume pulling him down. He waved at a few confused bystanders as he trotted past them.

“…delicious pastries and coffee, isn’t that right, Panda-chan?” Makoto heard Sousuke say excitedly to a group of high school girls he had managed to flag down. Makoto tried to control his breathing once he caught up in order to reply properly.

“Y-yes.” He said, using a high-pitched version of his voice that left his throat feeling scratchy. Sousuke had said that since he was technically a female panda, he should try to sound like one. Makoto had not been able to argue with that. However, all Makoto could reply with was a yes or no, for which he was thankful. He didn’t think he could pull off an entire conversation while having to use that pitch. He looked over at the scene, watching Sousuke charm them into agreeing to visit the café. The group of girls blushed and stammered as Sousuke handed them brightly colored flyers.

“If you show this flyer to the servers you get a free cookie, of any flavor you desire, on me.” Sousuke said, grinning as the girls nodded and giggled. Makoto watched as the girls walked away, heading in the direction of the café. It was amazing how easily Sousuke had been able to convince the people they had encountered today. It was even more amazing how drastically his demeanor had changed as soon as they had stepped out into the streets. He was all smiles and flirtatious remarks with women, and was surprisingly gentle and kind with the children. Of course, it was all for show, but Makoto had been shocked to find himself mesmerized by Sousuke’s warm façade.

“Panda-chan.” The tiny voice caught his attention as he felt something tug at his left leg. Makoto looked down to find a small pair of children. The little girl had her hand on the faux fur of the costume’s leg, her other hand grasping a little boy’s fingers.

“Hello.” Makoto managed, waving at the pair. The two kids exchanged happy glances before giggling up at him. Makoto smiled in return, the tiny pair resembled his own younger siblings.

“Would it be alright if we took a picture?” Makoto glanced up when he heard the children’s mother.

“Yes!” Makoto exclaimed with as much enthusiasm as he could fit into his voice. The two kids cheered and turned around to face their mother. Makoto leaned down a little, careful not to lose his balance. After the flashes of the camera, the kids reluctantly moved away from him.

“If you ever want to see Panda-chan again, just come to Panda Café. She loves getting visitors.” Makoto jumped when he heard Sousuke come up behind him. He saw the man hand the mother the last of the flyers. The woman thanked him before taking hold of her children’s hands.

“G’bye, Panda-chan.” The girl said, both her and her brother waving at him. Makoto waved back with both hands, hoping to reflect the happy smile he was sporting under the panda head.

“Let’s head back now.” Sousuke said then, taking off toward the café. Makoto breathed in a sigh of relief and followed him. He really wanted to take off the heavy costume now, and his stomach had begun to growl furiously.

When they entered the, now heavily populated, café, Sousuke dragged Makoto back into the employee room. A few of the kids waiting with their parents waved sadly as Panda-chan was taken away.

“Panda-chan will come back, but has to go away for a bit.” Makoto heard Sousuke say. As soon as they were in the backroom, Sousuke let go of his arm.

“You can take the costume off now.” Sousuke said after seeing that Makoto only stood awkwardly without making a move. Upon hearing that, Makoto pulled the costume off as fast as his hands would allow. He took a huge gulp of cool, fresh air once the panda head was off his sweaty face.

“Here.” Makoto turned and was surprised to see Sousuke holding out a bottle of water toward him. He took it while murmuring a thank you.

“You did good today. We brought in a lot of customers.” Sousuke commented, leaning against the wall opposite of where Makoto was. Makoto smiled down at his hands, pleased to finally hear a compliment from the man. 

“I kept you out longer than I should have.” Sousuke said, sounding almost apologetic. “With this heat and in that costume, you could have been in trouble if we had stayed out there longer. I’m sorry.” The seriousness in Sousuke’s voice caused Makoto to look up in shock.

“I’m usually the one that wears the suit, but you make a better Panda-chan.” Makoto’s eyes widened when he heard Sousuke chuckle.

“I-it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.” Makoto said after finding his voice. He drank the rest of his water, unaware of the pair of teal eyes on him.

“You’re a good worker, Tachibana. You’ve shown you can handle pretty much anything I throw at you, so you’ll be fine here.” Sousuke said as he made his way toward Makoto.

“S-so you were trying to scare me off again?” The question slipped out before he could stop it. Sousuke stopped mid-step in front of Makoto.

“Scare you off?” Sousuke echoed, eyebrows bunching together.

“No, I mean,” Makoto flushed, tongue unable to keep up with his flustered mind, “well, you’ve just made me d-do a lot of things that aren’t what I was hired for. A-and, you always seem to disapprove of how I do things. I just thought…” Makoto trailed off, looking anywhere but at Sousuke’s confused expression.

He expected to hear a lot of things from Sousuke, but a boisterous laugh was not one of them.

“I-I misspoke—” Makoto, dazed by Sousuke’s reaction, stuttered out.

“No, no, you’re fine,” Sousuke began after his laughter ebbed, “I, uh, actually should apologize then.”

Makoto blinked in confusion. Sousuke was blushing a bright pink, and had thrust his hands into the pockets of his apron.

“You see, I’ve only just been promoted to manager, and you’re the first person I’ve had to review… I didn’t want to mess up, so I just kept asking you to do everything that’s done here. I really am sorry for making you feel that way.” Sousuke explained as best he could, though he would never admit that today he had made an effort to tease the easily ruffled brunette. No, he could never admit that to Makoto.

An awkward silence stretched between them then, with Sousuke trying to avoid the beaming smile Makoto was throwing at him.

“Yamazaki, Tachibana! The customers are piling up!” They both jumped upon hearing their boss’ voice through the closed door. They were allowed ten minutes breaks, but not when the café was full.

Makoto quickly composed himself, reaching for the costume when his hand was guided away.

“You go on ahead and help them with the orders, I’ll take over Panda-chan. You’re faster with the orders than I am, anyway.” Sousuke smiled, handing Makoto his apron.

Makoto could only nod, oddly flustered by their close proximity, and rushed out of the employee room.

Perhaps, working under Sousuke wouldn’t be as bad as he had initially thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.


End file.
